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I* ^1 A. 



ZUNI AND THE ZUNIANS. 



MabUu Cox& „6 

TILLY E. STEVENSON. 



;/ 




PREFACE. 



That the readers of this paper may understand the 
means afforded me for obtaining the information contained 
therein, I venture the following explanation : 

During the summer of 1879 I accompanied the expedition 
sent out by Prof. J. W. Powell, U. S. Ethnologist, to visit 
the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona, for the purpose 
of studying the habits, customs, etc., of those strange peo- 
ple, and to make such collections of stone implements and 
pottery as we might be able to obtain. 

The party, in charge of Mr. James Stevenson, proceeded 
from Washington direct to Santa F4 New Mexico, crossing 
the plains by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. 
By the excellent management of the officers of this road 
it has been brought to a degree of perfection not surpassed 
by any in the country. Their persevering efforts are 
shown not only by the rapidly increasing travel over that 
line, but also by the steady and rapid growth of the popu- 
lation along the valley of the Arkansas and through New 
Mexico. No other route to the far west offers more objects 
of attraction for scientific observations than this. College 
and other scientific e.xpeditions, as well as those seeking 
pleasure in the western region should by all means go or 
return by this route. 

Having reached Santa Fe, we made this town our starting 
point for the field. A week or more was spent here in 

1 



securing transportation and supplies for the prosecution of 
the work. 

To General Sherman, who manifested great interest in 
the object we had in view, the expedition is deeply indebted. 
He not only requested his commanding- officers ser\'ing in 
the West to render us all possible assistance, but gave us 
the benefit of his knowledge as to some of the most 
important points for examination. 

To General Edward Hatch, commanding the District of 
New Mexico, the party extend most hearty thanks; not 
alone for the personal interest he exhibited in our investiga- 
tions, but also for the material aid furnished by, or through 
him, and without which we could not have accomplished the 
work done. 

Through the courtesy of Prof. Powell, who is ever ready 
to assist those engaged in P2thnologic research and all other 
branches of science, I am permitted to use the illustrations 
of some of the specimens collected during our journey, and 
which were deposited in the National Museum, as a part of 
the contributions of the Bureau of Ethnology. The illus- 
trations bear the catalogue numbers of the Smithsonian 
Institution. 

T. E. S. 
Washington, l>. C, .^piil iSih, iSSi. 



ZU^II AND THE ZUNIANS. 



I 



In the legendary lands of Central and South America, 
many explorers have opened mines of archaeological wealth, 
and rebuilt, in imagination, the temples and altars whose 
ruins remain the mute, yet eloquent witnesses of a people 
long passed away. 

In our own country, too, much treasure has seen the 
light through well directed research in the fertile fields of 
the Southwest ; but more remains to be acquired before 
we can recover the lost history of the race of men whose 
record is written in fragments on the canon walls of Ari- 
zona and New Mexico, and whose traditions still speak to 
us, however imperfectly, through the people now living in 
the pueblos of that interesting region. We trace our 
information to its very sources in that land of antiquities, 
teeming with objects of interest to the ethnographer — a 
land that was once densely populated, then desolated, and 
afterward held in precarious tenure by the remnants of a 
departed race. The older ruins are still found in the val- 
leys along the water-courses, where a pre-historic people 
dwelt in peace and prosperity until, driven by a powerful 
foe from the homes of their fathers, they were forced to 
seek refuge upon high cliffs and in the caves of canon 
walls. These niches are still filled with the fame of the 
Cliff-dwellers. Many of the houses are almost perfectly 
preserved, while all that remains of the valley homes is in 



ruins, where heaps of stones are crumbHng, and where lie 
scattered the fragmentary lares and penates of a remote 
civilization. 

How many generations of Cliff-dwellers lived in their 
strange fastnesses has never been determined ; but the 
great antiquity of the structures which remain in these nat- 
ural fortifications is unquestioned. Some of these places 
have become inaccessible, owing to the wearing away of 
the approaches, by the same elements -which in geologic 
time had fashioned the recesses of the canon-walls to which 
these people resorted for safety. When the cloud of war 
grew less threatening, they ventured to leave their towered 
fortresses where long had been their trials and many their 
privations, and settled upon the mesas — those high, flat- 
topped table-lands, forming such prominent features of the 
scenery in New Mexico. 

The accompanying illustration, by W. H. Holmes, from 
his report in Bulletin No. i. Vol. 2, U. S. Geol. Survey for 
1876, will convey an idea of these ancient structures and 
the probable means adopted by the inhabitants in obtain- 
ing access to them. 

The elevation of these sites enabled them to keep a sharp 
lookout for the enemy; while in the valleys below, along the 
streams that washed the feet of the cliffs, they sowed and 
gathered their crops. But this mode of life had also its 
drawbacks ; it was too far from the house to the harvest- 
field, and the women grew weary, doubtless, of carrying 
water-jars up the steep acclivity of the rocky walls. So. in 
the course of time, when their natural enemies — those 
nomadic tribes by whom war had so long been waged — 
seemed sated with murder and plunder, the Mesa-dwellers 
descended to the valleys, their dwellings being once again 
erected upon the ruins of the towns where their forefathers 
had lived. 




Cliff-Dwellings and Tower, Rio San Juan, Southern Colorado. 



Thus was completed the cycle of vicissitude in the his- 
tory of these people — from valley to cliff, from cliff to mesa, 
from mesa to valley again. Driven by oppression from 
the homes of their ancestors, timidly venturing from rocky 
strongholds to the scarcely less defensible table-lands, and 
then encouraged further, did they at length regain their 
inheritance, and re-establish the system of pueblos which 
still endures. The present life of these modern villages, 
as well as the past history of the ancient towns, is fraught 
with endless interest for the ethnographer, and some fresh 
glimpses of both are given in the results secured during 
the past year by Mr. Stevenson, who conducted important 
investigations, and brought to Washington a remarkably 
fine collection of archjeological and ethnographic material. 

The first point of interest visited by his party was the 
ruins of the Pueblo of Pecos, situated on a knoll about a 
hundred feet above the Rio Pecos, fort^'^ miles east of Santa 
F^. Camp was made under the shadow of the old Spanish 
church, the walls of which, together with some of the 
interior wood-work and decoration, remain silent witnesses 
of a past civilization. Near one end of the town are the 
remains of two circular walls which have been described by 
some as estufas, or fire-houses, and supposed to have been 
used for religious purposes by the former inhabitants of the 
pueblo. Careful observation, however, renders it probable 
that these circular enclosures were designed to be reser- 
voirs, and were used for the storage of snow to be consumed 
durincr the lone droughts which prevail in that country. 
Such, at any rate, is the use now made of the large circular 
enclosure in the Pueblo of Laguna, in New Mexico. The 
inhabitants of the village, having for ages to carry water 
from distant springs during the times when the reservoir 
was exhausted, have worn a path six or eight inches deep 
in solid sandstone. What a history is graven in the silent, 



winding footway ; what weary pages would be filled, could 
the " testimony of the rocks " be written. 

As already shown, the descendents of the Mesa-dwellers 
have mostly moved down into the valleys ; but there are 
some exceptions to this rule. Among them the inhabitants 




Illustration of a Portion of One of the Moqui Pueblos Described by 

Professor J. W. Powell. 

of Acoma, in New Mexico, and those of the Province of 
Tusayan, in Arizona. Acoma, interesting on account of 
its antiquity, remains upon an almost inaccessible mesa, the 
only approach to which is by means of steps hewn in the 
rocky acclivity. The Province of Tusayan consists of seven 



8 

pueblos, two of which, Shi-pau-i-luv-i and Mi-shotig-i-7ii-vi 
are situated closely together on the same mesa. It is an 
interesting fact to the ethnographer, that the inhabitants of 
these two pueblos have preserved two distinct dialects, not- 
withstanding their daily intercourse perhaps for centuries. 

Many pueblos are scattered along the Rio Grande ; but 
the inhabitants of these villages, having mi.xed more or 
less with the Mexicans for many generations, retain less of 
their purely aboriginal character than is still to be traced 
in the population of more isolated towns, such as Moqui 
and Zuiii. The last named, in many respects the most 
interesting of all these strange settlements, was the prin- 
cipal object of Mr. Stevenson's attention. 

Zuiii is situated in Western New Mexico, being built 
upon a knoll covering about fifteen acres, and some forty 
feet above the r\sA\\. bank of the river of the same name. 

Their extreme exclusiveness has preserved to the Zuui- 
ans their strong individuality, and kept their language 
pure. According to Prof. Powell's classification, their 
speech forms one of four linguistic stocks to which may be 
traced most, if not all, the pueblo dialects of the Southwest. 
In all the large area which was once thickly dotted with 
settlements, only thirty-one remain, and these are scattered 
hundreds of miles apart from Taos, in Northern New Mexico, 
to Isleta, in Western Texas. Among these remnants of 
great native tribes, the Zunians may claim perhaps the 
highest position, whether we regard simply their agricul- 
tural and pastoral pursuits, or consider their whole social 
and political organization. 

Their herds comprise a few cattle, but consist chiefly of 
sheep, goats, horses, and "buros" — the curious little don- 
keys known by this name being the beasts of burden, and 
the horses being used exclusively for riding. They have 
also some pigs and chickens, and innumerable dogs. 



Wheat, corn, beans, pumpkins, gourds, melons, peaches, 
and peppers complete the list of their agricultural pro- 
ducts. 

The corn is remarkable for the extraordinary variety of 
color it presents. One year's crop of grain is always kept 
in store untouched, to be used in case of failure of a crop, 
or other emergency. Some of the farms and orchards are 
from five to twenty miles distant from the village ; but 
there are also some queer little gardens at the very foot 
of the knoll, where peppers and melons are raised. No 
artificial irrigation is practised, though the system of 
acequias is in common use in many other pueblos. Grain 
is planted in the naturally-watered valleys, and orchards 
are set out upon the mesas where there is more atmos- 
pheric moisture. Entire dependence is placed upon the 
rain-fall ; and so wise is the Chief who presides over that 
element, that a storm invariably comes within two days 
after the dance for rain is performed. 

The town of Zuni is built in the most curious style. It 
resembles a great beehive, with the houses piled one upon 
another in a succession of terraces, the roof of one form- 
ing the floor or yard of the next above, and so on, until in 
some cases five tiers of dwellings are successively erected, 
thou eh no one of them is over two stories high. These 
structures are of stone and adobe. They are clustered 
around two plazas, or open squares, with several streets 
and three covered ways through the town. In the centre 
of the largest plaza stands the old Spanish Church, built 
several centuries ago, but still remarkably preserved, even 
to the wood carvings about the altar. Among other orna- 
ments are two well-erected wooden statues of saints, each 
about three feet in height, or rather these were to be seen 
there, until removed with other relics to Washington, as a 
part of the immense collection of ancient and modern pot- 

2 



lO 



tery, stone implements, etc., about to be placed on exhibi- 
tion in the National Museum. 

Fig. 41,912 is an illustration of one of the statues from 
Zuni, which is remarkable for the enamel finish on the limbs 
and face. 

The walls of this church are of adobe, as usual, and no 




^^Wrl/^^^ 




Wooden Statue of Saint. 

metal of any kind appears to have been used in its construc- 
tion, even the wood-work being held together by pegs of 
the same material. The church has a gallery, the only 
means of reaching which is by a covered stairway on the 
outside of the building, leading also to the belfry, where 
two bells hano from a wooden beam. No date or name 



II 



was revealed upon close scrutiny, nor was there any evi- 
dence that these bells had ever been furnished with clappers. 
On the contrary, the indentations on the outer'surface favor 
the belief that the bells were rung by hand with stone ham- 



mers. 



No. 42,205 is a stone hammer, grooved in the centre, 
around which a withe was wound when it was in common 
use. Many of these implements are collected from the 
ruins by the present Pueblos, and used 
as pounding stones or mauls. 

The old wooden cross still stands 
erect in the church-yard where, for years, 
the people were compelled by Spanish 
priests to kneel and do penance. In the 
same enclosure are buried the dead, 
without ceremony, save wailing and 
lamentation, and placing in the grave 
with the body many of the worldly 
goods of the departed. 

The upper houses of Zuni are reached 
by ladders from the outside. The lower 
tiers have doors on the ground plan, 
while the entrances to the others are 
from the terraces. There is a second 
entrance through hatchways in the roof, 
and thence by ladders down into the rooms below. In 
many of the pueblos there are no doors whatever on the 
ground floor, but the Zuuians assert that their lowermost 
houses have always been provided with such openings. In 
times of threatented attack the ladders were either drawn 
up or their rungs were removed, and the lower doors were 
securely fastened in some of the many ingenious ways 
these people have of barring the entrances to their dwell- 
ings. The houses have small windows, in which mica was 




42205 
Stone Hammer. 



I 2 



originally used, and is still employed to some extent ; but 
the Zuuians prize glass highly, and will secure it, whenever 
practicable, at almost any cost. A dwelling of average 
capacity has four or five rooms, though in some there are 
as many as eight. Some of the larger apartments are 
paved with flagging, but the floors are usually plastered 
with clay, like the walls. Both are kept in constant repair 
by the women, who mix a reddish-brown earth with water 
to the proper consistency, and then spread it by hand, 
always laying it on in semicircles It dries smooth and 
even, and looks well. In working this plaster the squaw 
keeps her mouth filled with water, which is applied with all 
the dexterity with which a Chinese laundryman sprinkles 
clothes. The women appear to delight in this w^ork, which 
they consider their special prerogative, and would feel that 
their rights were infringed upon were men to do it. In 
building, the men lay the stone foundations and set in 
place the huge logs that serve as beams to support the 
roof, the spaces between these rafters being filled with 
willow-brush ; though some of the wealthier Zuiiians use 
instead shingles made by the carpenters of the village. 
The women then finish the structure. The ceilings of all 
the older houses are low; but Zuui architecture has 
improved, and the modern style gives plenty of room, with 
doors through which one may pass without stooping. The 
inner walls are usually whitened. For this purpose a kind 
of white clay is dissolved in boiling water and applied by 
hand. A glove of undressed goat-skin is worn, the hand 
being dipped in the hot liquid and then passed repeatedly 
over the wall. 

In Zuni, as elsewhere, riches and ofiicial position confer 
importance upon their possessors. The wealthy class live 
in the lower houses, those of moderate means next above, 
while the poorer families have to be content with the upper- 



13 

most stories. Naturally no one will climb into the garret 
who has the means of securing apartments below. Still 
there is little or no social distinction in the rude civilization, 
the whole population of the town living almost as one fam- 
ily. The Alcalde, or Lieutenant-Governor, furnishes an 
exception to the general rule, as his official duties require 
him to occupy the highest house of all, from the top of 
which he announces each morning to the people the orders 
of the Governor, and makes such other proclamation as 
may be required of him. 

Each family has one room, generally the largest in the 
house, where they work, eat, and sleep together. In this 
room the wardrobe of the family hangs upon a log sus- 
pended beneath the rafters, only the more valued robes, 
such as those worn in the dance, being wrapped and care- 
fully stored away in another apartment. Work of all 
kinds goes on in this large room, including the cookery, 
which is done in a fire-place on the long side of the room, 
made by a projection at right angles with the wall, with a 
mantel-piece on which rests the base of the chimney. An- 
other fire-place in a second room is from six to eight feet in 
width, and above this is a ledge shaped somewhat like a 
Chinese awning. A highly-polished slab, fifteen or twenty 
inches in size, is raised a foot above the hearth. Coals are 
heaped beneath this slab, and upon it the JVaiavi is baked. 
This delicious kind of bread is made of meal ground finely 
and spread in a thin batter upon the stone with the naked 
hand. It is as thin as a wafer, and these crisp, gauzy sheets, 
when cooked, are piled in layers and then folded or rolled. 
Light bread, which is made only at feast times, is baked in 
adobe ovens outside the house. When not in use for this 
purpose, the ovens make convenient kennels for the dogs 
and play-houses for the children. Neatness is not one of 
the characteristics of the Zunis. In the late autumn and win- 



14 

ter months the women do httle else than make bread, often 
in fanciful shapes, for the feasts and dances which continually 
occur. A sweet drink, not at all intoxicating, is made from 
sprouted wheat. The men use tobacco, procured from 
white traders, in the form of cigarettes made from corn- 
husks ; but this is a luxury in which the women do not 
indulge. 

The Pueblo mills are among the most interesting things 
about the town. These mills, which are fastened to the 
floor a few feet from the wall, arc rectangular in shape, and 
divided into a number of compartments, each about twenty 




Pueblo Grist Mill. 

inches wide and deep, the whole series ranging from five 
to ten feet in length, according to the number of divisions. 
The walls are made of sandstone. In each compartment a 
flat grinding stone is firmly set, inclining at an angle of 
forty-five degrees. These slabs are of different degrees of 
smoothness, graduated successively from coarse to fine. 
The squaws, who alone work at the mills, kneel before 
them and bend over them as a laundress does over the 
wash-tub, hoklinof in their hands lontr stones of volcanic 
lava, which they rub up and down the slanting slabs, stop- 
ping at intervals to place the grain between the stones. 



15 

As the grinding proceeds, the grist is passed from one 
compartment to the next until, in passing through the 
series, it becomes of the desired fineness. This tedious 
and laborious method has been practised without improve- 
ment from time immemorial, and in some of their arts the 
Zunians have actually retrograded. Such is the case with 
the manufacture of pottery, their plastic art having deterior- 
ated to a considerable extent. 

The pottery found in the ruins throughout the South- 
west, especially in the Canon de Chelly and San Juan is 
superior to any now made, not only in ornamentation, but 
also in fineness of quality and symmetry. 

The ancient products show a much finer paste than any 
now made, owing no doubt to the use of some kind of ma- 
terial, the knowledge of which has been lost. In conse- 
quence, moreover, of the great increase of their stores, the 
people have become careless about this beautiful work, the 
women, who alone make the pottery, having comparatively 
little time to devote to its manufacture and ornamentation. 
Figures 40,812, 40,813, 40,814, 40,815, 40,816, are specimens 
of ancient ware obtained from the Zunians. Many photo- 
graphs of these figures were made by Mr. J. K. Hillers, the 
artist accompanying Mr. Stevenson. The decoration of the 
old pottery consists chiefly of scrolls, straight lines and walls 
of Troy. The earliest attempts to represent animals seem 
to have been directed toward depicting birds, some very 
old samples with designs of this character having been found. 

The favorite bird-figure bears a rude resemblance to the 
Chinese emblem of prosperity. 

That the ancient pottery bears a resemblance to that of 
Egypt and Cyprus is evident to any close observer. It is 
also somewhat like old Japanese ware, in the animal handles, 
and in a design known as the old Japanese seal. 

In connection with the subject of ancient pottery, I would 



i6 




4.081a. 
Ancient Pitcher. 



call attention to a class whicii is found very widely distribu- 
ted, perhaps more so than any other kind of aboriginal 
ware, and which is called laminated or corrugated pottery. 

Figures 40,817, and 40,818, are ex- 
amples of this production. It is found 
in the mounds of the Ohio and 
Mississippi valleys, in California, 
abundantly in Utah, indeed through- 
out the United States and Territories. 
This ware seems to have been used 
lor all kinds of domestic purposes, 
and from ample evidence which we 
have, it must have comprised a very 
large proportion of the ware in use 
during a certain period ; and if such 
was the case, it may have been 
employed in religious or ceremonial observances. Frag- 
ments of this pottery are ever present among the ruins 
on the mesas, and in the valleys of the streams of the 
southwest. In its manufacture 
delicate care and patience were 
necessary, as the thread like 
layers of clay were laid one on 
the other, throughout the pro- 
cess until the vessel was com- 
pleted. No polishing stones or 
trowels were employed, only the 
fingers and hands, the minutest 
impressions of the skin being 
noticeable on most of it. There Lower portion of Ancient 
is also another variety of pottery Vase with the broken edge 
exhibiting a highly glazed sur- smoothed off. 

face. Specimens of this kind are found usually in very small 
fragments amongst the mesa ruins, though occasionally bits 




17 




40814:. 



are found in the valleys. The present Pueblo Indians 

believe this process of glazing to be a lost art, and from their 

earliest recollections they have endeavored to produce the 

glaze, but success has never 
attended their efforts. After 
the most careful investio-a- 
tions and chemical analysis Dr. 
Hoffman affirms the glazing 
was purely accidental. " In 
nearly every fragment exam- 
ined the body contained from 
one-fifth to three-fourths as 
much saline material as did the 
Lower portion of Ancient carefully reserved scales of 
Vase with broken edge glazed surface. One vessel 
smoothed off. having a neck so small as to 

prevent the introduction of the youngest childs hand, was 

found to be more highly glazed on the interior surface 

than upon the outer. The 

only reasonable explanation 

is that as the country is 

exceedingly hot and dry dur- 
ing the greater portion of the 

year, and the small streams 

or ponds dry or decrease in 

quantity by evaporation thus 

concentrating the alkalies 

held in suspension which 

were obtained by drainage 

from the surrounding areas, 

ultimately causing the water 

to become unfit for culinary 

purposes. The larger ponds found in the ravines and small 

valleys being reserved for the latter purpose, the smaller 

3 




4D815. 



Ancient Jar. 



i8 



bodies of water no doubt were used in preparing the 
clay for the vessels, and also for washing the surfaces so a? 
to cause smoothness, etc. The clay being thus mixed and 
the vessels dried for the oven, the saline matter would 
naturally be, to some extent carried to the surface of the 
vessel by evaporation, which would be more thoroughly 
completed by baking, causing the glazing presented. This 
was especially noticeable in the small-necked vessel." 
Complete description, etc., in manuscript in the report 




40816. 

(i) 
Ancient Water Jar. 

of the Davenport Academy of Science to be published 
within a few weeks. 

In one respect alone does the pottery of the present day 
show an improvement upon that of the older time. The 
latter is decorated with no designs of animals save those 
moulded figures which serve for handles, while the modern 
ware is ornamented profusely with representations of every 
animal known to the makers, their designs being laid on 
with the brush over the entire surface of the utensils. 



19 




40817. 

(^) 

Corrugated 

Ancient Pottery. 



The only implements used in making pottery are a small 
earthen plate and a sort of trowel, made of a gourd, though 
frequently a suitable fragment of pottery itself is employed 
instead of the latter. No wheel is 
used, nor is any kind of lathe or turn- 
ing machine known to these people. 
A lignitic earth, found on the mesa 
where remain the ruins of old Zuiii, is 
tjround to a powder and mixed with 
a small quantity of pulverized pottery, 
fragments of the latter being carefully 
hoarded for this purpose. The powder 
thus compounded is mixed with water 
enough to make a pasty mass, which 
is then kneaded like doucrh. The 
more care taken in pulverizing the 
material and the more time spent in working it, the finer 
becomes the paste. When the mass reaches such a state 
of consistency that the fingers can 
no longer detect the presence of 
gritty particles, it is still more deli- 
cately tested with the tongue, and 
when found to be in a satisfactory 
state it is placed in covered ves- 
sels to retain the moisture until 
wanted for use. To mould it, a suffi- 
cient quantity is first made into a 
ball and then hollowed out with the 
fingers until it assumes the conven- 
tional bowl shape which serves as the 
foundation, to be afterwards built up 
and elaborated into any desired shape. 
The required article is then formed by the successive ad- 
ditions of strips of the material, about an inch in width and 




40818 

(i) 

Corrugated 

Ancient Pottery. 



20 

long enough to encircle the bowl — each layer being pressed 
on the brim with the fingers and accurately coaptated, the 
trowel being then skillfully used to finish the joining and 
remove all traces of the original separation of the strips. 

Most of the moulding of the vessel into its final shape is 
done upon the inside with a trowel, this implement being 
chiefly used on the outside to smooth the surface. The 
clay, if it has been properly worked, posesses sufficient 
tenacity and plasticity to admit of being pressed and 
scraped without cracking. 



39834. 

in 
ZuSi TiNAjA, OR Water Jar. 

The completed article is placed for a day to dry in the 
sun ; it then becomes very friable and must be handled with 
much care until it is baked. Nevertheless, this is the state 
of the manufacture in which the objects are to be decorated. 

Fig. 39,934 shows a modern Zuni water jar, ornamented 
in diamond figures, surrounded with scrolls and drawings of 
deer. I did not learn the significance of the white spot on 
the rump of the deer, but the spade-like figure, with dark line 
running to the mouth, represents the heart and expresses life. 



LACUNA POTTERY 




ZUNI POTTERY 






■:^ 




' I 
X 









!i'/: 
!"'li? 



\ 




>J^W 



^^A 



M^ 



'I . 



■} 




21 



The ground is usually white. A fine clay of that color 
is dissolved in water and then made into sticks to be 
dried in the sun ; when required for use these sticks are 
rubbed to powder on a stone, again mixed with water and 
in the liquid state applied to the object with a rabbit-skin 
mop. After thorough drying of this foundation, the designs 
are painted with brushes made from the Spanish bayonet, 
the pigments having been ground in stone mortars and 
made into a paste with water. One remarkable thing about 
the manufacture of these wares is, that the Indians never 
have any designs before them, either in moulding or in or- 
namenting their work. 

Fig. 42,272 represents the pestle and mortar in which 
the mineral pigments are ground. When the decoration 
is completed, the articles are ready for baking. A suitable 
out-door spot is selected and a day is chosen when there is 
no wind to interfere with the process. The pieces to be 
fired are then placed on stones, by which means they are 
raised a few inches from the ground and an oven of " chips," 
obtained from the sheep and goat pens, is built around and 
over them. The fire is carefully managed in order to 
secure, first a gradual heating, after which the entire mass 
is subjected to an intense heat until the baking is completed, 
the process usually requiring from one to two hours. 

A fine specimen. Fig. 39,914, of double-lobed canteen, in 
red ground, simply ornamented In white, was presented by 
the Cacique of Zuni. 

The compartlve study of the ceramics of various pueblos 
Is one of great interest and Importance, as the knowledge 
of their art will lead us, link by link, along the chain of 
evidence which bears upon the unsolved problem of their 
origin. 

In many of the pueblos the art of using the brush in decor- 
ating pottery is unknown. In these villages they employ but 



22 



two styles of ornamentation, a reddish colored surface pro- 
duced by a wash of red ochre, and one of black, both present- 
ing quite a polish. The vessels being made of a yellowish 
clay in a manner heretofore described, are placed in the sun 
where they remain for some hours. They arc then washed 
with a solution of the red ochre, and while wet the process of 
polishing begins — the squaw, with untiring energy, rubbing 
over the surface again and again with her polishing stone, 
every litde while passing a wet cloth over the vessel so as to 
keep its surface moist. When the polishing is completed the 
articles are again placed in the sun for a short time before re- 
ceiving their final baking in the ovens. When the baking is 

thoroughly completed 
such vessels as are to 
be of the red-dish color 
are removed, while 
those which are to as- 
sume the black remain 
in the ovens, which are 
then covered with a 
quantity of loose ma- 
nure. The fire is so 
smothered by this pro- 
cess as to produce a dense smoke, and it is this smoke 
absorbed into the pottery that produces the black color- 
ing, no black pigment of any kind having been used. 

While there is no attempt at designing with the brush, 
there are many pretty and curious designs in the moulding 
of this ware, such as water jars and bowls with fiuted edges, 
varieties of birds, and queer figures. 

The manufacture of pottery is not the only decorative 
work performed by the women of Zuni. Their blankets are 
of inferior quality, they preferring to trade with the Navajos 
and Moquis for these particular articles ; but their dresses 




42272 

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Pestle and Mortar. 



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of a diagonal cloth of home-dyed blue, embroidered top and 
bottom in a lighter shade, are most picturesque, the embroid- 
ery is very similar to the Chinese stitch. But the work, 
remarkable for its exquisite fineness, is that done in the 
weaving of the long belts worn by the women and the garters 
for the men. These have usually a red ground with designs 
in green and white woven in. These colors are procured 
by trade with the whites, the only dye known to the Zuni's 
being indigo. 

Let us turn now from things made in Zuni to the makers 
themselves, and see what manner of people they are. The 
men are rather below the aver- 
age height of an American, and 
the women are quite petite, with 
small hands and feet, and re- 
markably symmetrical limbs. 
The general appearance and 
style of dress in both sexes is 
very fairly shown in some of the 
accompanying illustrations. 

These people are dark-haired ; 
but among them are seven or 
eight albinos, and it is a fact of 
physiological interest that no two 
of these belong to the same family. There are three men, 
two or three women, a girl of eight years, and an infant. 
They have light golden hair and complexions of extreme 
delicacy, but all suffer from a weakness of the eyes. To 
such an extent does the absence of choroid pigment affect 
their vision, that they are obliged to protect their eyes from 
even ordinary daylight. It is not true, as has been affirmed, 
that the subjects of this freak of nature are compelled to 
live apart from the rest of their tribe. No two of them 
reside in the same family ; the older ones are married and 




83914 
>i ' 

9 

DOUBLE-LOBED CaNTEEN. 



24 

have healthy offspring, and no one of them is debarred from 
social, political, or religious privilges. 

A curious custom prevails in Zuui of applying a paste 
made of ashes and water to the faces of all new-born male 
children, and the same practice is continued during their 
infancy. This is intended to prevent the growth of beard. 

The system of government, though one characteristic of 
a comparatively low state of civilization, is, nevertheless, 
complete as far as it goes. The forms are fully carried 
out, justice is secured, and the affairs of state are adminis- 
tered in a manner fully meeting the requirements of the 
case. The governor is ex officio the judge before whom 
are tried all persons charged with offenses of whatever 
kind, and his decision in the case is final. He is assisted 
in carrying out the law by a council composed of the civil 
officers of the pueblo. 

Pedro Pino, one of the oldest inhabitants, is apparently 
the most intelligent person in the village. He is the only 
one of them who posseses sufficient knowledge of the 
Spanish language to communicate with the outside world 
by word of mouth. Though holding no official position 
his fluency in speaking Spanish, together with his mature 
iudo-ment and eood sense, commands for him a high seat 
in the councils of his people. Appreciating the advantages 
of education, he is anxious to have the youth of the pueblo 
taught English. He sets great value upon some letters 
which he has from time to time received from officers of 
the army who have passed through the country. One of 
the papers bears date of 1841 ; another, bearing General 
Sherman's autograph, styles Pedro Pino "the wisdom of 
Zuili," and all tell the same story of unvarying courtesy 
and hospitality shown to travelers by the people of this 
village. 

According to Pedro's tradition, his people at one time 



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25 

lived in the Cauon de Chelly, in Arizona, where they had 
been driven by their inveterate enemies, the Navajos and 
Apaches. Moving thence they scattered for a while, until 
the continued aggressions of their foes compelled them 
again to unite their forces for mutual protection. Then it 
was that they built a town on the present site of Zuiii. 
Misfortune, however, still pursued the unhappy race, who 
were obliged to flee for their lives before a mighty flood 
which threatened to overwhelm them. They took refuge 
upon the mesa about two miles from the Zuui of to-day. 
Though this table-land is a thousand feet above the valley, 
the waters rose almost to the top, and the fear of a uni- 
versal flood, which would sweep them from the face of the 
earth, came upon the people. In such dire extremity as 
this it was resolved to propitiate the flood, and thus avert, 
by human sacrifice, further disaster. Two victims, a man 
and a woman, were put to death in the waters in order to 
abate the flood. The offering proved efficacious ; the 
calamity was stayed, and by some miraculous agency the 
victims were turned to stone. Towering hundreds of feet 
above the level of the mesa stands to-day a columnar rock 
capped with likenesses of two human heads, a monument 
"more lasting than brass" of the peril from which the 
nation was happily delivered. 

Whilst the old Zunians still occupied the mesa, they 
were attacked by the Spaniards to avenge the supposed 
death of a priest who had been sent among them as a mis- 
sionary many years before. The priest, feeling himself 
entirely forgotten by his own people, had identified himself 
with those among whom he had dwelt so long. Apprised 
of the approach of the hosdle Spaniards, the Indians pre- 
pared to defend themselves with huge stones to be hurled 
upon the enemy should they attempt to scale the mesa by 
the only practicable pathway up the almost perpendicular 

4 



26 



face of the cliff But when the cause of the hostile demon- 
stration became known to the Indians, the priest in the 
absence of paper on which to write, scraped a buckskin 
smooth and wrote upon it a message to the attacking party. 

The skin was fastened to a large stone and thrown down 
into the valley. Upon this information of the safety of the 
priest, the Spaniards retired, leaving the Zuiiians undis- 
turbed. This tradition is very similar to the account given 
in Davis' " Conquest of Mexico," of Coronado's attack 
upon Cibola, and this author states that " beyond doubt 
ancient Zuui and Cibola were the same Pueblo." 

The ruins upon the mesa are very extensive. The 
houses were built entirely of stones, so carefully selected 
and so accurately fitted as to appear as if hewn. Many 
of the walls still stand eight or ten feet high. To judge 
by the deeply-worn pathway leading up the ascent, the 
spot must have been inhabited for many generations. 
There are two ruins between the mesa and the present 
site of Zuiii, these being the places where, according to 
Pedro Pino's narration, these people first settled on descend- 
ing from the table-land. But the Navajoes gave them 
no peace, and it became necessary to take measures for 
self protection, or else return to their elevated stronghold, 
which they were loth to do. A grand council of all the 
Pueblos of the vicinity was held, and it was decided, after 
long and grave deliberation, to adopt a style of architecture 
which seemed to promise the end they had in view — their 
desire being to hold the position then occupied. They 
determined to build their houses one upon another, so that 
the topmost tier would give them a good lookout, while 
the consolidation of the buildings would afford strong forti- 
fication in case of attack. So the Zunians after long 
absence returned to the knoll upon which they had formerly 
settled, and built there the town which they now inhabit. 



27 



However defective or inaccurate the tradition may be in 
some particulars, the necessity for adequate defense of the 
community from the attacks of their enemies undoubtedly 
gave rise to the curious construction of the houses, not 
only in this, but in other pueblos. The tradidon is claimed 
by the Zunians to have come down to them through many 
generations, and the wise elders of the community take 
great pains to impress this unwritten history upon the 
minds of rising generations. 

A curious rattle (figure 41,853) is made of turtle shell 
and goat toes, which is used in 
the sacred dances, being attached 
to the calf of the right leg. These 
rattles are the property of their 
church, and it was with great diffi- 
culty one was procured. 

Little can be said respecting 
the myths and superstitions of 
this strangely interesting people. 
Without a knowledge of their 
language, only vague inferences 
can be drawn from witnessing the 
weird dances which form so pro- 
minent a part of their religious 
ceremonies. The Cacique is the 
head of the Zunian Church, and he is to these people all 
that the Pope of Rome represents in the Catholic world. 
He is infallible, and his word is law. His daily visits to 
the mesa to watch the rising sun have no doubt given rise 
to an impression that these people worship that luminary. 
But these visits, so far from being of religious significance, 
are for the very practical and useful purpose of keeping 
the calendar. The Zunians have some little knowledge of 
the changes of the sun, and they understand that their new 




fiS53 

3 

Turtle Shell Rattle 
Used in Dances. 



28 



year begins five days from the time when the shadow 
falls at a certain angle from the mesa. There appears to 
be much system in their religious observances and forms 
of worship. The Cacique has six assistants who preside 
with him in religious ceremonies and hold their offices by 
inheritance, and there is one female Cacique whose only 
duty is to wait upon the great man. Ten men appointed 
annually by the head of the church, are the witty element 
in the dances, and they are, moreover, persons of great 
consequence in ecclesiasdcal affairs, each of these Co-ya- 
ma-shis having in his special charge the dance for some par- 
ticular purpose. Many 
of the dances are held 
by day in the open plazas, 
but the most sacred cere- 
monies are performed at 
night in the houses, and 
always before an altar. 
Strangers maybe present 
at these observances by 
invitation from the Ca- 
cique. Instead of the 
wicked midnitrht orgies 
which priests have for centuries sought to stigmatize, 
and which are still sometimes alleged to take place, one 
witnesses only certain religious rites of unknown meaning, 
performed with decorum and solemnity. 

Figure 41,019 is a beautifully fashioned basket used ex- 
clusively for the sacred meal, which is sprinkled upon the 
ground in front of the dancers, upon the alters, and various 
objects connected with their religion. 

The modern estufas (dance houses) are both rectangular 
and circular, those of Zuiiiarerectangularlike their dwellings, 
which they adjoin and with which they are built in line. As 




Sacred Pottery Basket. 



29 

to the fires supposed to be perpetually burning in the 
estufas, it is certain that there is nothing of the sort in 
Zuni. Still, this does not preclude the supposition that the 
Zunians are fire-worshippers. They have a sacred call for 
fire, frequently heard in their ceremonies ; certain dances 
are always celebrated with the burning of immense fires 
throughout the village ; and before the family meal is par- 
taken, food is thrown into the fire with a call to that element 
to devour it. 

Some other equally erroneous and no less prevalent 
notions respecting Zuni may be mentioned. For instance 
the eagles always found caged in such numbers in the 
pueblo are by no means the sacred objects they have been 
supposed to be. The fact is these ro)'al birds are caught, 
caged and carefully fed in order to furnish a supply of the 
plumes which are used in all religious ceremonies to decor- 
ate their altars and the persons of those who take part in 
such observances. It corresponds in a manner with the 
ostrich-farming which has become so important an indus- 
try in South Africa. Two traits of these Pueblo Indians 
may be noted before closing. Although so peaceable in 
disposition and given over to agricultural and pastoral 
pursuits, they are as one with the nomadic savages of the 
west in the practice of scalping their fallen foes. Proudly 
declaring that they have never yet killed a white, they add 
the boast with greater parade still, that they have slain and 
scalped many of the Navajos, the inveterate foes of their 
nation. Their prejudice against the Mexican race is a 
strong characteristic. To such length is it carried that a 
Mexican is rarely allowed to enter the village, and no 
person of that nation is ever permitted to witness their 
dances of ceremony — for the reason, it is believed, that 
such an evil presence would make the dance result in the 
very opposite of the desired good. 



30 

No sketch of Zuni which can be presented within the 
limits of a single article, can afford more than a glimpse at 
the life of the strange people who inhabit that village. 

The result of the investigations already made suffices to 
show how rich a field remains to be worked in this and 
other pueblos of the southwest. It is to be earnestly 
hoped that our Government will, with enlightened liberality, 
cause further research to be conducted in the interests of 
archaeological and ethnographical science, and secure for 
itself, before it shall be too late, the data required to fully 
elucidate the history of the Pueblo Indians. 



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